Alarming Proposal Would Reduce Access to Services and Harm Patients
(Alexandria, VA and Washington DC) – The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) issued the following statement today in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate and Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies Competitive Bidding Program Updates proposed rule, which proposes payment and regulatory updates for Medicare home health agencies (HHAs).
The proposed rule includes policies that would reduce payments to HHAs by over $1 billion dollars in 2026, at a time when providers also continue to experience unmatched inflationary pressure in a challenging labor market — making it difficult, if not impossible in some areas, to deliver care to Medicare beneficiaries entitled to receive it. CMS data from 2020 to 2024 highlights the growing crisis — half of all U.S. counties have already lost HHAs, and in over 70% of counties, agencies are treating fewer Traditional Medicare patients. These trends point to a dangerous erosion of access to care for millions of older and disabled Americans. If implemented, this rule will further cut the Medicare benefit and have catastrophic impacts on home health care access by forcing providers to close their doors, expanding existing and creating new home health care deserts, and leaving patients without the essential care they need.
“The sustainable delivery of home health care nationwide hinges on this critical rule. CMS has failed not just our providers, but the millions of Americans who depend on home health services—whether they are recovering after a hospital stay or managing chronic conditions in the place they are most comfortable—at home,” said Dr. Steve Landers, CEO for the Alliance. “We are alarmed by the negligent proposed payment update, which deepens a heartless pattern of insufficient adjustments that have already led providers to close their doors and reduce services, and now threatens to further diminish care access by compelling more HHAs to take similar actions. While we stand with CMS in its efforts to improve the quality of care and program integrity while saving the system money, this flawed and shortsighted payment update will actually increase costs to the American healthcare system.”
The Alliance continues to maintain that these payment cuts do not align with the requirements of the statute or its intent to ensure budget neutral payment rates. Since the inception of the new payment system in 2020, total Medicare home health expenditures have declined year-over-year, a fact that is directly at odds with CMS’s assertion that aggregate expenditures under the new system are higher than they otherwise would have been prior to the 2020 changes.
“Instead of decimating this beloved, high-value program, CMS should focus on modernizing the home health benefit by expanding the role of telehealth, eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse, and ensuring access to care for the most medically and socially vulnerable populations,” Landers continued.
The Alliance urges CMS to reevaluate this proposed rule and exercise its full authority under the law to implement an update that will ensure the continued delivery of quality home health care. The Alliance will fight on behalf of patients, families, and providers nationwide for data-driven policy that preserves the demonstrated value of the home health benefit and protects life-saving home-based care.
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About the National Alliance for Care at Home
The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) is the leading authority in transforming care in the home. As an inclusive thought leader, advocate, educator, and convener, we serve as the unifying voice for providers and recipients of home care, home health, hospice, palliative care, and Medicaid home and community-based services throughout all stages of life. Learn more at www.AllianceForCareAtHome.org.
Press Contact
communications@allianceforcareathome.org
Elyssa Katz | 571-281-0220
